Hey guys, figured I'd just post up another analysis I did in the hope that someone will have a look.
I think right now my biggest worry is word length - I literally can not stop analysing stuff. From now on I'm just going to stick to a set time limit.
The article I analysed is at
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/racism-demands-action-from-all-of-us-20130212-2eb07.html 
Thanks!
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Written in response to recent public racist attacks in Australia, Lucas Walsh’s opinionated article “Racism demands action from all of us” aims to blatantly condemn those who believe that racist behaviour is still acceptable in the 21st century. Walsh’s ubiquitous worried tone remains composed as he contends to his Australian public audience that overcoming the “bystander effect”, and supporting the “cultures of diversity” are stepping stones to a less-racist Australia. Upon reflecting on past unsuccessful attempts to curb racism Walsh’s tone turns fearful and slightly embarrassed, utilising imagery and hard evidence to assert his opinion, with the powerful visual aid adding to the persuasiveness of his piece, enabling the readers to physically see the argument he is presenting.
In an extremely concerned tone, Walsh makes prevalent the seemingly un-Australian attitude towards racism that has swept the current population. He aims to effectively startle his audience by revealing that, based on a survey of “more than 800” young Australians, carried out partially be Deakin University, “more than 70 per cent” where the victim of “some form of racism”. The blunt nature of this hard evidence, doubled with the source’s trustworthy nature assists the reader to realise the prevalent and serious nature of the issue, positioning the reader better to respond to Walsh’s later call to action. He moves on to highlight the bus driver’s inaction at the recent racist verbal attack on Jeremy Fernandez as “disturbing”, evoking the alarming nature of the issue, before revealing the cold words that the bus driver spoke to Fernandez, following the attack - “It’s your fault, mate. You could have moved.” The cold, and poisonous words, highlighted in the visual by the depicted blue tongue of the white ‘demon’, and the inclusion of the word “mate”, reveal the ‘fit in or leave’ mentality rabid in current Australian culture. The use of this word can be seen to almost rhetorically ask Fernandez, ‘are you Australian?’, while the rest of this phrase acts to leave it in the victim’s responsibility to deal with the situation. Combined with the depiction of Fernandez in the grasp of the tongue of the white beast in the visual, wearing a white top to show his already trying his best to fit into the Australian culture, the quote was included to allow the audience to sympathise with the victims of racist attacks, and to evoke disgust and hatred towards the bus driver and other racist attackers, whom are shifting Australian culture for the worst. Walsh further evokes sympathy from his audience by rhetorically asking where “this man and his daughter should sit?”, while agreeing in a patronising tone that it would be “presumably somewhere out of the way” of the Caucasian attacker. This evokes a sense of disgust towards racist comments, supporting Walsh’s argument, but the blatant nature of the comment ensures that the audience feels embarrassment for an event that occurred in a country that “apparently rejects racial exclusion”, with the word “apparently” reminding the audience that although we as a country would like to believe we are all for “cultural diversity”, we are far from it.
Rampant in Walsh’s argument is the concept of “the bystander effect”, and in a concerned yet understanding tone, attempts to convince the readers that overcoming this epidemic will reduce rates of racism in Australia. To coax his audience into a more manipulative state, Walsh concedes that it is “hard” for others to “stand up” to racist attackers. This positions readers to feel relieved that this is only human nature, as they have most likely been themselves a victim of the bystander effect. Walsh reveals a powerful anecdote from a victim of racism, Robert, who concedes that you should “trust no one”, as “everyone can do the dirty on you”. This in itself aims to alarm the audience of the seriousness of the issue in young children, and positions them to grieve with the boy who can trust no one. The fact that he can trust “no one” aims to act as a hyperbole to describe the effect of the bystander effect, going as far as evoking readers’ nervousness and stress at what the future implications of the bystander effect may be. This concept of betrayal and others doing the “dirty on you” is carried through to the visual’s biblical reference to Adam and Eve, wherein the words or tongue of the serpent had Adam and Eve in a chokehold, and brought about their overall downfall as they were dragged from the light of truth, to the darkness of sin. The blank background aims to represent the failure to intervene of bystanders, that is, their apparent lack of presence, with the lack of identity of the face of the white monster aiming to represent that not only can anyone be responsible for delivering racist tirades, but by not standing up for those who are racially assaulted, we are that monster. This may elicit distress or embarrassment in the audience, positioning them more likely to take control in similar future situations.
Walsh, in an informative and slightly disappointed tone, carries through the audience feelings of embarrassment and guilt by reflecting on past unsuccessful attempts to rid racism from Australia. He makes reference to Rosa Parks and the incident in 1955 to elicit a feeling of shame in the audience that in over 58 years since the event, racist attacks still appear to be frequent. To further make the audience feel uncomfortable with their previous lack of social action is the mention of the “civil rights movement” that was created in the United States. This never ending nature of the issue of racism is reflected in the visual’s seemingly unending snake tongue, which is representative of time, eliciting humiliation in the audience. This humiliation is doubled when Walsh makes clear the previous and current attempts to curb racism, utilising words such as Australian’s “searching” to address racism, but “yet to” actually address the issue. However, Walsh allows readers to redeem themselves with the depiction of the visual holding the victims of racism in the tongue. This recognises that whatever we do, we cannot change the past and ‘release’ the victims from the previously felt shame. However, we can look to the future, and, as the tongue diverges in two different directions off the page, so to we have two choices - either carry on with our racist antics, or continue on to a better ‘non-racist’ Australia and change future history. This portrayal acts to inspire the audience, and evoke their humanitarian responsibility for those affected by racism. The visual therefore acts as a call to action whereby the reader may feel encouraged to make their stamp on history.
A sense of responsibility is further evoked in readers by Walsh as, in a determined tone, outlines what needs to be done to tackle racism in Australia head on. From the first look of his article, Walsh evokes action from his audience, utilising the words “demands actions” and “all”. The use of the word ‘demand’ aims to leave no choice in the readers mind that racism in Australia must be addressed, with the word “all” ensuring that the readers know that it is not someone else’s responsibility, but everyone’s. As is depicted in the visual, we, Australian’s, literally hold this minority group, depicted by their small size, by our future words and actions, and will determine their fate. Walsh admits that we all have “rights and responsibilities”, and the only way these will be achieved are through more than “conventional” festivals or events. This word acts as an attack, and plants a negative connotation in the mind of the reader that we have taken an unimaginative and lazy approach to sorting out this issue once and for all. This positions the reader to feel regret at their failure to address racism, but elicits a sense of humanitarian responsibility, focussing this regret by mentioning that it is our “duty” to “protect the rights of others”. Supported once more by the visual, a picture of the current racial situation in Australia is painted, whereby the reader is coaxed to feel that ‘slaying’ the racist beast is a job for all Australians, and one that is not optional.
In “Racism demands action from all of us”, Lucas Walsh effectively motivates his audience to take action to overcome the current racist culture in Australia. In a predominantly alarmed and eventual pleading tone, Walsh logically contends to his Australian public audience that the stepping stones to a less-racist Australia are through overcoming the bystander effect and supporting multiculturalism.
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